Phoenix Suns cruise past Magic, offense’s shift into next gear continues

PHOENIX — Since the turn of the new year, the Phoenix Suns have lost two games, games that the opposition hit a combined 42 three-pointers in.

The six-week span has seen Phoenix hit its stride in the regular season, with win No. 19 of that stretch coming Saturday night over the Orlando Magic, 132-105.

The loss at the end of December was in Boston, a no-show on the road after a long flight and odd tip time. Phoenix’s turning point last season came in a similar type of terrible defeat, at home to the tanking Oklahoma City Thunder to fall to 8-8.

Yes, this is a team that won 18 in a row prior to the beginning of January but it seems like this has been another level. Phoenix’s offensive rating in 2022 prior to Saturday was 118.2, and in the 35 games prior to that, it was 110.8.

While the Suns’ great balance in all aspects of the game is there, they’ve always been a better defensive team than offensive. Hence the now 37-0 record when holding the opponent under 110 points.

But Phoenix’s offense getting this type of rhythm has been a positive development to say the least.

The Suns’ 67 points in the first half came from nine player contributions of seven, 11, 14, 10, seven, five, four, five and four through 21 assists and 40 points in the paint. They are now a well-orchestrated machine, finishing with a season-high 40 assists on Saturday, making it nine straight games they’ve recorded over 25 and six of their last nine they’ve reached 30.

Williams was honest and didn’t direct any of it to a specific tweak, change or point of emphasis. Rather, it just sounds like the team’s philosophies are really firing on all cylinders.

“I could say something but I think it’s just the way we try to play,” he said. “We have guys who will get off the ball. We talk about we-score (mentality). We talk about a standard of basketball that allows everybody to touch the ball. We feel like we have unselfish players.

“I could say a few more things but I think that’s just it in a nutshell. Our guys really don’t care who scores. They want to win games.”

He even noted he thinks his team can “take it to another level” offensively, a frightening proposition for the rest of the league.

“The ball hops around and it’s tough to guard,” guard Devin Booker said. “They always say the ball moves faster than people.”

The worst things great teams can do in the regular season is stagnate and lull around until mid-April when the playoffs start. Squads led by Michael Jordan and LeBron James could do that. Very few others can and need to improve over the course of the year.

As the All-Star break approaches, the Suns have been doing just that.

Orlando’s (13-45) energy and persistence stood no chance for the level of execution Phoenix (46-10) has offensively. The Suns’ lead at the end of the quarters improved from 10 to 14 to 22, respectively.

The Magic never mustered up a big run or spurt to make the game close, which is probably expecting too much out of them with their record and Saturday being the second game of a back-to-back for them across the country.

Nine Suns players scored in double figures, including all five starters and Booker’s team-high 26 in 29 minutes. Chris Paul dished out 15 of those 40 assists across 26 minutes. The blowout was a welcome chance for Williams to give him a shorter workload after Paul’s minute totals were in a slightly concerning territory the last couple of weeks. Ditto for Booker and Mikal Bridges.

It’s not like we should have expected anything different but Torrey Craig’s integration was seamless. He put up 14 points, three rebounds, four assists and two steals in 23 terrific minutes for his return to the Valley after being acquired at Thursday’s trade deadline.

“Felt like he didn’t leave at all,” Booker said of Craig.

In his first shift of eight minutes, Craig made a dozen or so plays on both ends, mostly little things that contribute to winning. On offense, he was cutting and slipping on screens like a veteran of the offense, which, he technically is. He covers an extra step defensively than most guys and is such a noticeable upgrade to that 10th spot in the rotation.

“It’s crazy. It literally feels like the same way it did last season,” Craig said.

Craig was a bit more aggressive offensively with the Indiana Pacers and it translated, something Williams noticed.

Without Cam Payne (right wrist sprain) and Landry Shamet (right ankle sprain), Williams started the second quarter with Elfrid Payton, Craig, Cam Johnson, Jae Crowder and JaVale McGee. Craig offers Williams that type of versatility with “Wingstop” three-wing lineups if he so chooses. Last season, Williams rarely used Craig in that way but it could be a more viable option this season, especially with the improvement of Bridges and Johnson.

Williams elaborated on what he likes the most in those three-wing groups.

“Defensively, the versatility to be able to switch and put hands on bodies legally with big, strong guys. … They all know the offensive concepts from each position, so that’s not seamless, but it’s a bit easier with those guys when they’re like-sized,” he said.

“His ability to defend multiple positions is something that we feel like is going to help us,” Williams also said of Craig.

Williams elected to go with Payton over new guard Aaron Holiday as the backup point guard, the right call given how Holiday just arrived in Phoenix. It’ll be interesting to see if that changes in the next few days or after the All-Star break, something a lot of the fanbase clamored for once Holiday was acquired on Thursday from the Washington Wizards.

Payne went through his pregame work with some type of brace or soft cast on his right hand, exclusively using his left hand to dribble and shoot. The initial update on his timeline was being re-evaluated on Feb. 7 and Williams didn’t have any more information on Saturday besides what we’ve seen, which is Payne maintaining his conditioning.

Shamet was doing active work on his ankle at shootaround and before the game but Williams said he has not done any 2-on-2 or 3-on-3 work yet, either.

Williams said he would have liked to play Holiday in the standard rotation but didn’t want to put too much on his plate.

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